Manchester United are struggling to improve, but Michael Carrick is said to be an easy fix, especially if he can sort out the team’s leaky defence.
Michael Carrick is tasked with saving Manchester United’s season (Image: Manchester United via Getty Images)
Manager Michael Carrick said Manchester United were “not that difficult to fix” but said the defense needed to be addressed immediately upon his arrival.
The former player arrived to take charge until the end of the season, taking over a team that had won just one of their previous seven games and had just been eliminated by Brighton in the FA Cup, ending any hopes of winning a trophy this season.
Despite the series of results, Sir Alex Ferguson’s former assistant Rene Meulensteen believes the problems facing them can be easily fixed and backs Carrick to make the necessary changes, but insists the current defense is too weak.
Even 19th-placed Burnley scored two goals against a side who picked up a point at Turf Moor last week. Before that, Bournemouth came to Old Trafford and scored four points in a thrilling eight-goal game. United currently have one clean sheet in their last 15 games.
Meulensteen told the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast: “What we saw in both games (under Darren Fletcher) is that there are gaps all over the place and they’re going to exploit them. He’s got to come on, especially in the upcoming games against City and Arsenal, to make sure that’s sorted out.”
read more: Manchester United confirm status of Amad and Brian Mbeumo ahead of Michael Carrick’s first test against Man Cityread more: Ryan Giggs gives Coby Mynuman United transfer advice as Michael Carrick’s ‘deadline’ approaches
“I trust his footballing ability and his intelligence to get it right. In my opinion, it won’t be too difficult to fix. If all the players are available, we won’t know exactly what the best lineup will be, because we need to work with the players and find the best link at the back. We talked about the goalkeeping problem. We have problems in midfield, but up front we are good enough in terms of creating and scoring goals.”
United’s defense was not helped by the 3-4-3 formation adopted by Ruben Amorim, which did not work properly in Manchester. It was often cited that they were consistently outclassed in midfield and offered little protection.
Under Darren Fletcher, the team conceded four goals in two games (Image: )
Carrick will be without Matthijs de Ligt, who was one of Manchester’s most impressive defenders, as he continues to battle injury problems. Lisandro Martinez returned as a World Cup winner and brought more aggression to the backline.
The new head coach has already admitted that his mission is to win games and will do whatever it takes. “We want to win the game. Obviously, we want to win the game,” he said. “Of course, there are different ways, different scenarios and game situations, and you may need to play a certain way.
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive Mirror Football content every day. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can always check out. If you are interested, please read our privacy notice.
Sky Sports Premier League and EFL package discounts
£49
£35
sky
Get the deal here
Sky has reduced the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £336 on their bill and offering more than 1,400 live matches from Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will broadcast at least 215 live Premier League matches next season, with an increase of up to 100 more.
